Nyctophobia
by ButWhyIsTheFridgeDoorOpen
Summary: Hayden Cale never expected that taking on the position of Chief Executive for CHAANK would be an easy job. Let it be known, however that no where in her contract did it say that she'd have to drag herself into work at 4am because the backup power had died and CHAANK's psychotic lead engineer was deathly afraid of the dark. M for swearing but otherwise shameless fluff


Hayden groaned as her phone lit up her once dark bedroom. Carpenter and his goddamn 'emergencies' could go die in a fire. Hoping to ignore it, she grumbled and rolled away from the offending machine.

"Cale, for the love of god will you pick up the phone?"

"Fuck. Off"

Carpenter was a very anxious man. His technical hardware abilities were brilliant, she wouldn't lie but as a functional human being he barely managed to go an entire day without storming into her office in a fluster. Nine out of ten times he did this because of something that could have waiting well until a more appropriate time. Just like this morning for instance. Whatever had sent him into a panic would have more than likely been able to be put off until she had arrived at work in four hours.

"Cale, the backup generators at CHAANK have failed"

"John, the system is overburdened and we both knew that it was going to crap out at times. The main power will be back on in a few hours. Why the hell does this need my attention now?" Hayden responded, refusing to roll back over to face the glaring screen and the heavily pixelated face that was Carpenter.

"The entire facility is down with no power and Jack is still in there"

Well shit.

Hayden threw her body weight back over and turned to the restless man on the phone.

"What do you mean he's still there? Why hasn't he gone home yet?"

Carpenter could only shrug in response.

"Honestly Cale, I don't think he has a home to go to…"

Hayden stared up at her ceiling for a few seconds before throwing off the covers of her warm, safe bed and stomped towards a pile of clothes she hadn't bothered to put away yet. Finding a pair of track pants and a simple t-shirt, she threw them on over her pyjamas.

"I'll be right over"

CHAANK's head facility looked intimidating enough during the day. At night, it was an architectural monstrosity. It wouldn't be out of place if Hayden had set up a sign above the lobby entrance that stated, 'abandon all hope ye who enter'. Turning off her ignition, she reached into the back seat for her flashlight and began a hasty walk through the lobby to the fire escape stairs.

Making her way slowly down several flights of stairs, she finally reached the development division. Forcing open the heavy smoke door of the fire escape, she quickly began to scan with what little field of vision her flashlight could offer her. Machinery and equipment decorated the basement, some unfinished products she was familiar with. Others were new builds that could honestly just exist due to Jack's persistent boredom.

"Jack!?" She called out as she slowly navigated the dark warehouse. Hayden found the door to his room easily enough – the colourful paints always stood out in the otherwise silver and grey environment. Opening the door carefully, she called out again. Straining to listen for any signs of her nyctophobic engineer. Suddenly a small whimpered response turned her attention to the hallways that connected to CHAANK's vaults. Closing the door, she took tentative steps to try and locate the source of the noise.

"Jack, are you here?"

Another small sound responded and she felt a sense of relief. Directing her light over the hallway, she located a small dark creature curled up against the walls. The leather jacket swam around him as he'd tucked his jean-clad legs under his chin to make himself as small as possible. The moment the light focused on his hunched form, Jack's face shot up and Hayden could see the obvious signs that he'd been crying in this same position since the generators died. It wasn't the most dignified look, she admitted to herself. But nevertheless, he was still her responsibility.

"Shh it's alright", she cooed softly as she crouched and slid down next to him against the wall, "It's going to be fi -"

Hayden didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as she was promptly winded by the full weight of the man being thrown into her body in an overly excited embrace. Struggling to remain stable, Hayden winced as she fell back to the floor and took the fearful engineer with her.

"I-I d-don't wanna be here, Cale" Jack's voice muffled as he buried his wet face into her neck.

Hayden's arm had instinctively wrapped around his waist while her other maintained her sitting stance on the floor. This wasn't the most comfortable position in the world. Pulling her legs back under her, she managed to push up and right herself into a standing position. Jack whimpered at the loss of contact until she offered her hand to bring him back up with her.

"Come on, let's get you out of here"

Keeping an arm wound tightly around his shoulders, Hayden led the way back to the fire escape. In the past, she hadn't been at all affectionate to even her closest friends and relatives. She wasn't the touchy-feely type. But with Jack's general unpredictability and regular mood swings, she seemed to be the only person in the entire organisation who could keep him under control. So, she allowed him to get close, to become attached if only to help maintain a sense of order and safety at CHAANK. God knows Ridley was more than happy to no longer fear for his life as much as he used to.

Finally, they made their way to the lobby. The lights from the surrounding city and houses provided more illumination than her little flashlight could offer so she turned it off. Still, Jack hadn't really let go of her. Instead opting to slink both arms around hers and sigh contentedly into her shoulder. Checking her watch for the time, Hayden noted that she'd have at least 3 more hours to go until the main power came back. Guiding Jack to a leather couch in the lobby waiting area, they both sat and waited.

The sky was usually so dark and lifeless – the light poisoning made it difficult to see anything beyond the flashing lights of a red eye flight. But oddly that night, some stars were actually visible for once. Meanwhile, Jack had shifted around in the couch to bring his head into her lap. His long legs bent awkwardly to ensure that his frame could fit across the small bit of furniture. Absentmindedly, Hayden brought a hand up to gently pet the greasy hair of Jack Dante as she watched the early hours of the morning pass her by. She made a note to take these hours off as 'time owed' once the office opened. For now, she could settle to watch the sun rise for the first time in years.


End file.
